As we say, the book isn’t out until August, so this is your chance to be one of the first – the very first (we haven’t even sent out ARCs or eARCs or anything yet) – people on the planet to get a flavour of The Machine Dynasty.

Madeline is also an exceedingly smart person who knows a heck of a lot about a broad range of extremely interesting subjects – here she is discussing futurism, artificial intelligence and more with the likes of Robert J. Sawyer on Canadian TV recently – so the Q&A session (we’re assuming there will be a Q&A session) is bound to be an interesting one as well.

This coming weekend, Angry Robot authors and Overlords will be strutting their funky stuff (Oh, no!) to the musical stylings of Mr Craig Charles as well as lounging in various bars and appearing on panels and signing books – you know the drill.

Authors appearing:
Dan Abnett, Adam Christopher, Anne Lyle, Andy Remic, David Tallerman, Lavie Tidhar, Guy Haley and Ian Whates

And the Angry Robot office crew:
Marc Gascoigne, Lee Harris, Darren Turpin, and Amanda Rutter

These are the various panels/signings we’ll be taking part in (Angry Robots are listed in bold):

FRIDAY

12.00pm – The Bar is Open

3.00pm – Elf Preservation
Gav Thorpe, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Graham McNeill, Juliet McKenna and Joe Abercrombie ponder if it’s really fantasy if it doesn’t have magic and monsters. Jared Shurin hosts.

3.00pm – Signing: Dan Abnett and Adam Christopher

4.00pm – Using History
Adam Christopher, Paul Cornell, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pat Kelleher and Maria Dahvana Headley talk about how the past can help your fiction. Hosted by Sandy Auden.

5.00pm – How do you put the Punk into Steampunk?
Lavie Tidhar, Stephen Hunt and Robert Rankin talk to Jonathan Green.

5.00pm – Signing: Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe

6.00pm – How to get Published
Anne Lyle, Anne Clarke and others. Guy Haley hosts the discussion.

6.00pm – Signing: Andy Remic and Lavie Tidhar

SATURDAY

12.00pm – Space Opera
Dan Abnett, Peter F Hamilton, Jaine Fenn, Michael Cobley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden ask if books are the only medium flying the flag for spaceships. Alastair Reynolds hosts.

1.00pm – Ready, Steady, Flash!
Lee Harris challenges Paul Cornell, Stacia Kane, Tony Lee and Juliet E McKenna to write short stories in just five minutes.

4.00pm – It’s not a Story – It’s a Map!
David Tallerman, Ian Whates, China Miéville and Gaie Sebold wonder: does fantasy place world-building over character? Juliet E McKenna hosts.

5.00pm – Signing: David Tallerman and Ian Whates

_____________

*Disclaimer: Applicable only to people near Prestatyn, Wales.

The old man settled himself a little more comfortably in his hovva-chair (his robo-prosthetic was giving him gyp, despite the balmy 58 celsius showing on the outdoor-temperature-o-meter).

“The Last Days? You mean the Last Days of the Great Angry Robot January eBook Sale of 2012?”

“Oh, Grandad, you know that’s what I mean.”

The old man tousled his granddaughter’s sandy hair (the kid had been playing in the reclamation pits again).

“Well, Granddaughter, I’m afraid I was a fool. Rather than grabbing as many bargains as I could when I had the chance, I just sat and played Angry Birds on my iPad – remember those funny old non-holo models? – and missed my opportunity.”

“Oh, Grandad! But there’s a happy ending, isn’t there?”

The old man smiled, and there was a twinkle in his remaining eye (as the cataract-away auto-lenses clicked and whirred).

“Well, luckily for me, your Grandma was a good and clever woman. She downloaded one of everything those Angry Robot folks put in their sale, at less than the price of a pint each, and we were able to enjoy hours and hours of top-quality SF/F/WTF? fiction for years and years to come. Yes, she was a good, clever, wise woman, your Grandma. Definitely wasn’t stupid. Knew a bargain when she saw one, yes sirree.”

They both looked over at the floating brain-in-a-jar on the mantelpiece and smiled fondly.

“Now, you young whipper-snapper, go give your Grandma a polish and then dust off my old Kindle Mk16 for me. I got me some re-reading to do.”

“Oh, Grandad, you’re so crazy and old-fashioned! Can’t you just sideload them straight to your cerebral cortex like everyone else?”

The old man winked and smiled his crinkliest smile.

“Sod off and play in the hover-traffic, you cheeky little git.”

————

That’s right, folks! Over half our titles are still available at half their usual price, but the Angry Robot January eBook Sale ends at midnight, January 31st (or as near as dammit, depending on how quickly we can get into the ecommerce software and change all the prices back… but lunchtime on Feb 1st? Forget it, pal! Those low, low prices are gone!).

Visit The Angry Robot Webstore for all your bargain ePub needs, or visit your local e-branch of global online megamarts like Amazon or Barnes & Noble to grab a Kindle / Nook version.

(Don’t be like Grandad! Think brain-in-a-jar!)

Also, a quick heads-up: most of the office will be disappearing off to the SFX Weekender at the back end of next week, so if the usual Round-Up doesn’t appear for some reason then that’ll be why.

Right, on with the linkaging! (What? Yes, that’s a word…)

Blogger Elloise Hopkins took a look at Giant Thief by David Tallerman and liked what she read: “An endearing protagonist, a host of excellent supporting characters, a less than communicative giant, and most importantly a unique story, are just some of the elements that make this book worth reading.” There’s another review up at Owlcat Mountain, where the reviewer concluded: “Giant Thief shows that Tallerman has a lot of promise as a novelist and I look forward to what he does next.” We couldn’t agree more. (It’s Crown Thief, by the way, and it’s going to be published this Autumn).

Adam Christopher‘s Empire State has been taking the genresphere by storm since its publication earlier this month and continues to do so, with new reviews from Mark Yon at SFFWorld: “It’s a very impressive debut. The sequel [ahem] next novel from Adam [- AR crew], Seven Wonders, is due out from Angry Robot Books in September 2012. Based on what I’ve read here, it’s going to be brilliant.” Paul Simpson also reviewed the book at Sci-Fi Bulletin and was impressed with the authentic film noir atmosphere of the narrative.

We’ve seen another couple of reviews for Carpathia by Matt Forbeck (published early March) this week. Wesley Chu said: “Mr. Forbeck wonderfully paces his scenes fast and furiously, and builds the plot tension right up to the very end” over at Famous Monsters of Filmland and blogger Theresa Derwin said: “This novel is a hoot and tremendous fun. Definitely worth checking out!” Matt’s Angry Robot debut, Amortals gets a mention as well, courtesy of Voxael.

Reviewer Renee Fountain, writing for The New York Journal of Books, had this to say about Chris F. Holm‘s Dead Harvest: “With a candid style that exhibits solid confidence and finesse, Chris Holm pulls readers in and pins us to the edge of our seats with a cleverly conceived story that is flawlessly executed.”

Meanwhile, Chris is giving away the Amazon Kindle edition of his short story collection 8 Pounds, with a free download this weekend only. Details on Chris’s blog. Go, grab, read!

The first review (that we’ve seen) of Anne Lyle‘s forthcoming (April) debut, The Alcehmist of Souls is live on Drying Ink, where Jacob said: “A rich historical setting, some gloriously ambiguous characters, and a whole lot of unexpected surprises collide to make this unmissable for any fan of historical fantasy.” (You know, we think he rather liked it…)

And the first review (again, that we’ve seen) for Chuck Wendig‘s Blackbirds has been posted at Fantasy Nibbles: “The writing is absolutely outstanding, it’s 100% my kind of narrative, there’s just not a single ounce of fat, it’s all muscle, that’s the best way I can describe it. Not a single word is wasted, every one of them packs a punch.”

Chuck’s ‘This is How You Die‘ Tumblr project also got a mention on The Washington Post‘s Style Blog, no less!

Jo Anderton‘s 2011 debut, Debris was reviewed for Marianne de Pierres‘ author blog by Mandy Wrangles, who said: “Debris is an exceptional novel.” You’re not wrong, Mandy. You’re not wrong.

Madeline Ashby, whose debut novel vN we’re proud and pleased to be publishing in August (did you check out the cover art that we announced earlier today? Did you? You really should) speaks out on the subject of media piracy, SOPA, PIPA and things of that ilk at madelineashby.com.

Gary MacMahon‘s Dead Bad Things gets a mention in Peter Tennant’s Best of 2011 review for TTAPress.com.

Val’s Random Comments and Adam Lowe both took a look at Lauren Beukes‘s debut Moxyland, which we’re re-issuing in bright, shiny new livery next month, folks.

Two Dudes in an Attic finally got around to reviewing Aliette de Bodard’s second Aztec noir offering, Harbinger of the Storm. They liked it, a lot.

And finally… no, I got nothing. Just: have a great weekend!

Hey, gang. We promised you some more cover goodness imminently, and cover goodness is what you shall have! Click each thumbnail to see heartstopping levels of detail.

The cover to vN by Madeline Ashby is by the remarkable Martin Bland, aka Spyroteknik. You really should click to get a better look at this, because the poor fellow almost sent himself blind working all of the detail in those robotic components that are surrounding poor Amy.

Night’s Engines is the second of Trent Jamieson‘s explorations into the apocalyptically storm-damaged Nightbound Land, and as with Roil the cover is by Angelo Rinaldi. Less in your face than Margaret, the first book’s kick-ass heroine, David as seen here is a feckless wastrel forced into action by destiny. I know, happens to us all. He’s scrubbed up rather well for the climax to this two-volume adventure.

Jo Anderton‘s disgraced pion-controller Tanyana is fully Suited on the cover of Debris‘ sequel. The first book in the defiantly science fantasy Veiled Worlds series has been getting rave reviews everywhere, along with plenty of “Is it SF, is it fantasy?” deliberation from the worthies of the SF/F blogosphere. All we know is that she looks damn mean in that suit. You’ll have someone’s eye out with that!

And ultimately, Steve Stone‘s none-more-noir cover to the collected Matt Richter tales by the redoubtable Tim Waggoner. The Nekropolis Archives has all three wonderfully entertaining novels featuring the undead detective and his half-vampire sweetheart Devona, along with a swathe of short stories. All in a paperback so chunky it really should come with health & safety warnings.

Last year we relaxed our submissions guidelines, and opened the door to unagented authors who had written novels they thought would interest us. Throughout March we received an average of 32 submissions a day! And that’s in addition to all the great work we had being submitted through the usual channels!

So far we’ve contracted three authors (a minimum of six books) from that process:

Cassandra Rose Clarke (The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, The Assassin’s Curse)
Lee Collins (The Dead of Winter, She Returns From War)
Lee Battersby (The Corpse-Rat King, Marching Dead)

and we’re not quite finished, yet!

This year, we’re going to narrow the focus, somewhat. Angry Robot are specifically looking for classic fantasy (high, epic, medieval, magical, etc etc), and Strange Chemistry (our YA imprint) will be looking for all forms of sf and fantasy YA. The doors will be open from April 16th through April 30th.

Full details can be found here.

A couple of weeks ago, Chuck launched a Tumblr site, This is How You Die, a collaborative trans-media project intended to explore the themes of the novel by inviting readers to submit their own thoughts on death and dying.

Anyone is welcome to participate – instructions are on the site – and submissions (all of which are moderated and selected by Chuck) can take any form the contributor sees fit or feels most comfortable with. So far they’ve ranged from prose thought-pieces to literary quotations, photography, artwork, tweets, even songs. Methods of passing range from the peacefully mundane to the apocalyptic and the bizarre.

Challenging? Definitely. Thought-provoking? Certainly. Therapeutic? Possibly; as Chuck says: “This is a collaborative story and art Tumblr where readers are encouraged to confront their their fears and fantasies about death by submitting how they believe they will die.”

If you’re interested in submitting a thought-piece or anything else of your own, the place to start is: how-you-die.tumblr.com.

{Pic credit: ‘Kalierin’ on sxc.hu}

The shiny, new content in question is Empire State – the RPG, nothing less than a complete, original and self-contained roleplaying game system fresh from the feverish mind of game designer David ‘Doc Blue’ Wendt, whose credits include White Wolf’s Sword and Sorcery, Exalted, Mage, and Gamma World game lines, as well as his own ‘Camelot’s Shame‘ system.

In Empire State – the RPG the emphasis is very much on collaborative story-telling, with players and GM working together to generate plot- and character-focused gaming sessions based on the concept of the Empire State. Or any of the vast array of spin-off possibilities that the main narrative implies.

That’s the back-of-the-packet version. But what you really want to know is this: it’s cool, it’s sassy, it’s sexy, it’s noir, it’s anything you want it to be, and there’s not an experience point in sight. We’re talking proper, grown-up gaming, folks. Not the sort of thing your dungeon-bashing, level-up-mad kiddie-gamers and going to get a kick out of, and obviously that’s going to mean a much, much more satisfying gaming experience as a result.

So, what the game needs now is gamers! It’s completely free to download (the system is available under the same Creative Commons license as all the EmpireState.cc content) which means it’s yours to run with, build on and participate in to your heart’s content.

And we’d absolutely love it if, once you’ve played the game, you wanted to submit your game transcripts as works of short fiction, or submit character illustrations of their group, or anything else based on your game experiences.

Plus, as you’ll see when you download the rules set, it’s very much text-only at the moment. If there are any illustrators or artists out there who feel inspired to submit some suitable illustrations, do please feel free. Game supplements and rules add-ons (as long as they stay true to the original, story-telling focused game system) are also welcome.

Gaming in the world of Empire State awaits you… grab your dice-bag and get to it!

Empire State was reviewed online by Red Rook Review, The Geek Syndicate (who also ran an excerpt), The Weaving Knight and Starburst Magazine, where it was said: “This is simply one of the greatest science fiction books I have ever read”. The latest issue (#63) of SciFiNow also ran a four-star review: “Empire State is highly recommended to those who like their sci-fi dark, pacey and woven tight by multiple threads of intrigue.”

Meanwhile, author Adam Christopher was interviewed this week for The Ranting Dragon. And just as we posted this round-up, the fine folk over at Tor.com posted their own chat with Adam, which took place while the author hosted a signing of Empire State at the New York Public Library recently.

Lavie Tidhar‘s The Great Game, the concluding instalment in the steampunk extravaganza that is The Bookman Histories, is out in February and has been reviewed by Drying Ink and Libris Leonis. He also gets a whopping ’10 out of 10 zeppelins’ from a review on The Traveler’s Steampunk blog, wherein it was said: “Lavie Tidhar has once again created an outstanding Steampunk novel. Gripping, multi-facetted, and fascinating.” Stick that in your boiler and fuel your airship with it.

David Tallerman, whose debut novel Giant Thief is also published in February, was interviewed for The Mad Hatter’s Review and the book received a cracking review from Marc Alpin at Fantasy Faction, who reckons: “this book will be one of the finest débuts of 2012″.

Chris F. Holm spoke to Elaine Ash about the design elements of his forthcoming (March 2012) Angry Robot debut Dead Harvest, for her Ashedit blog.

Carpathia by Matt Forbeck (March 2012) has been advance-reviewed by Shadowhawk for The Founding Fields.

Paul S. Kemp held a forum-style interview/chat with Reddit’s Fantasy Community this week, talking about his Star wars titles and, of course, his forthcoming Angry Robot debut, The Hammer and the Blade (July 2012). Plus: if you haven’t already seen it, check out the cover artwork for said tome, here.

Anne Lyle, whose debut The Alchemist of Souls we’re publishing in April, has been interviewed by Civilian Reader.

Dan Abnett was a guest on fellow AR-author Kaaron Warren‘s blog this week, for the latest in Kaaron’s Sparks series of author interviews.

K. W. Jeter‘s Infernal Devices received a rave review from Fantasy Nibbles.

Aliette de Bodard‘s Master of the House of Darts was reviewed by WarpcoreSF.

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis was named as one of Sci-Fi Guys Book Review’s Best Books of 2011 and one of the Top Ten Books of 2011 at The Turn of the Page.

And finally… The Sci-Fi Guys Book Review named Angry Robot as one of their Top Three publishers of 2011, thereby ensuring their place on the ‘Do Not Annihilate’ list when the Robot Revolution comes. A wise, wise move on their part, we’re sure you’ll agree.

In July we’re publishing the first in Paul S Kemp’s exciting new fantasy series, The Hammer & the Blade. It tells of renowned treasure hunters and adventurers Egil (he’s the burly bastard priest with an uncanny way of getting believers to fall in line) and Nix (no lock unpicked, no treasure unsnaffled, no serving wench unfondled) and lo, here they are.

This stunning art is by the ever-lovely Richard Jones of Artist Partners. We were going to wait until it had some lettering on but frankly, we couldn’t contain ourselves.

You can read a great interview/live chat with Paul about the novel, plus an insight into his many bestselling Star Wars novels (skweeee!) over at Reddit.com.

PS, Lots more upcoming art to wonder over shortly.